Flooding in New York, April 13 to 29, 2002

A one to two inch widespread rainfall across the Adirondack water shed, resulted in a rapid melting of the residual winter snow pack. The combination of the rain and melting snow led to a rapid runoff, which set the stage for many streams and rivers to rise above flood stage. The Sacandaga River was the first to rise above its 7.0 flood stage at Hope, Fulton County, late on the evening of April 13. The river crested at 7.88 feet by 400 am on the 14th. The Moose River was next to come out of its banks by early on the 14th, surpassing the flood stage of 11.0 feet at McKeever, and cresting around midday at 12.07. The West Canada Creek swelled out of its banks at Hinckley, exceeding the 1227 foot flood stage by midday on the 14th. The creek crested at 1228.42 feet by midday on the 15th. The rapid runoff also brought rises on the Schroon River on the morning of the 15th, surpassing the 7.0 foot flood stage at Riverbank, and not cresting until early morning on the 17th at 7.55 feet. The Mettawee River at Granville exceeded the 7.0 flood stage midday on the 15th and crested at 7.08 feet a couple of hours later. The Upper Hudson River, near Schuylerville, exceeded the 90.0 foot flood stage late in the afternoon on the 14th. The rising water reached south to Mechanicville nearly 24 hours later, surpassing the flood stage of 53.0 feet there. The Hudson crested at 93.3 feet midday on the 15th at Schuylerville and 53.5 feet at Mechanville, resulting in flooding of the Stillwater Flats as well as near the Saratoga battlefield. Finally, the Mohawk River at the Utica gage, exceeded the flood stage of 403 feet early on the15th and crested at 404.35. All the streams and rivers receeded below bankfull, most of them by the 19th. The only exception was the Schroon River, which remained above flood stage until the 29th of April. All the flooding was deemed minor and no significant damage was reported to the National Weather Service.